An Ocean of Grace? A “Progressive” Perspective

Church for LGBT - Open Table MCC - Philippines

God’s grace is an ocean, an endless sea of infinite love, a cosmos onto itself.

It surrounds you, embraces you, warms you like the babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, like your mother’s loving arms, holding you, bringing relief.

Grace is only ever given. Never bought, never earned. Every mystical experience is a remembering ancient knowledge now returned.

What greater gift is there than this smallest blessing?

Contemporary Reading
“God’s Grace is an Ocean” by Aaron Waddell

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There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name.

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

O God, the insolent rise up against me; a band of ruffians seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant; save the child of your maidservant.

Show me a sign of your favor, so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame, because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Scripture Reading
Psalm 86:8-17 (NRSVUE)

Mapagpala at mapagpalayang 2025 sa ating lahat and Merry Christmas as per the Eastern Orthodox Calendar.

Open Table MCC each year has a guiding theme. Lord teach us how to pray was the theme for year 2021, just barely coming out of the pandemic. The following year was, I Will Rebuild You Says the Lord for Year 2022 and then for year 2023, I will tend to you like a Garden Says the Lord with verse Isaiah 58:11. And then for last year, 2024 – Ano ang theme natin? I will Pour Out my Spirit and Establish You Says the Lord. Having a yearly theme is a way to dedicate, guide, and to frame our year to the different ways that God is present and revealing God’s self to us in our church community. Spiritually, I take this as God telling our community where is our growth or change area.

For this year based on the majority of the congregation who answered the assessment survey, affirmed by the Ministry council, and approved by the congregation – our theme for this year is Grace with a bible verses John 1:14a and 16. But I will talk about our thematic verse not today but for another Sunday.

Today I just want to deliver a message on how we should think about God’s grace metaphorically.

Dapat next week pa ito, pero ichika ko lang din kasi kailangan for understanding… ano nga ba ang grace?

Grace, at least for now, let us think of it as God’s loving kindness. If we want to be literal, Grace is Good Favor or delight like how a king positively favors or delights with a servant. Pero chaka kasi pag monarchial. Grace can also be delight – Yung natutuwa ka towards someone without no specific reason. Natutuwa ka sa kapatid mo simply because kapatid mo siya; sa anak mo or sa nanay mo hindi dahil may ginawa siya or silang something for you. Natutuwa – nadedelight ka – simply because. Pero let us prefer grace to be loving kindness. The loving kindness of parent to their child. Loving kindness of a lover to their loved one. The loving kindness of a beshiwap.

What we also need to know about grace is that it is freely given and initiated by God and not something you earned or will earn – kaya actually the best relationship that will describe grace is – Friendship and/or community – I delight in you and love you hindi dahil magkadugo tayo or dahil jowa kita or dusto kitang kemehin. I delight in you and extend my loving kindness to you for no reason other than I choose you to be my friend or I choose to be with you in community.

Lastly, let us understand grace as God’s power. There are theological definitions that would say the power of God is grace itself. The power of the Holy Spirit is grace. The blessings we receive are graces – loving kindness – from God. Our methodist siblings would even have categories for grace na para bang different kinds of powers – prevenient grace, justifying grace, and sanctifying grace. Ang kapangyarihan ng Diyos ay hindi power to destroy, overwhelm, or dominate. God’s power, in Christian understanding, is loving kindness. Ang kapangyarihan ng Diyos ay Kabutihang mapagmahal.

I want us to think about grace first as symbolized by water. Water has been universally significant to all religions and spiritual traditions. Malalim at mayabong ang kahulugan at pag-gamit sa tubig sa iba’t ibang mga pananampalataya. Diana Butler Bass in her book Grounded says, God, is the One in whom we swim. She further says that many shrines, temples, and cathedrals were built over springs and ancient healing wells, including famous Christian sites like Chartes Cathdral and Lourdes. We can also find a lot of water stories in the Bible. In the Hebrew Creation Story in Genesis, in the beginning the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of the deep. Before anything, water and Spirit was already there existing with God. The slaves passing through water twice and the first time being delivered from their Egyptian oppressors. The story of Jesus at the well, Jesus calms the storm, and Jesus walks on water. The first and fundamental sacrament in Christianity that almost all Christians share is about water – Baptism – and today is the Sunday of the Baptism of our Lord. Today we will also renew the baptismal vows of our new ministers as they are formally and ritually received into the congregation. Many other religions treat water as sacred and symbolic of the spiritual life.

Life on earth and indeed humans cannot exist without water. Human civilizations have evolved and developed besides great rivers and coastlines of oceans and seas. Our own body is filled with water. Scientifically speaking, we now know that life started not on land but on water. In the deep oceans of the young earth. It was only much later after millions upon millions of years and evolution that animal life crawled out of the water and into dry land.

So, I want us to think about grace as water – no one can live without it. All of us are mostly composed of water. Everyone came from water and needs water. Everyone came from and because of grace. Everyone needs grace.

Now let us think about grace not merely as water but specifically as an Ocean but not just one ocean – all 7 oceans of the world combined. Ganun kalaki at kalawak at kalalim ang GRACE ni God. Our contemporary reading by Aaron Waddell says…

God’s grace is an ocean, an endless sea of infinite love, a cosmos onto itself.

Like an Ocean, no one can own or control the ocean.

There is no way that you as an individual or any group of people can own the entirety of the world’s oceans. Walang pwedeng mag-may-ari at magcontrol ng isang malaking karagatan tulad ng West Philippine Sea or magcontrol ng lahat ng karagatan sa daigdig. Therefore, tulad nang karagatan walang iisang pwedeng magmay-ari, magcontrol, or magclaim ng grasya ng Diyos. The grace of God and to some extent DIVINITY itself cannot be owned or controlled by one single church, denomination, or even one religion. It is arrogantly foolish to attempt or to say so. Anyone saying it either do not fully understand the enormity of God and God’s grace or alam nya pero gago lang talaga siya para paniwalain at manipulahin ang mga taong nabudol niya at patuloy nyang binubudol. Lesson 1 for today and to start our series on grace, no single church or religion, not even the human race as a whole, can exclusively own and control God’s grace in the same way that no one can own and control the oceans and seas of the earth.

God’s grace, like water, is a gift given and available to all.

If walang nagmamay-ari sa mga karagatan at sa tubig nito, then it should be freely available to all. The oceans of the world, and indeed rivers, lakes, and springs should be available and accessible to all. Similarly, God’s grace, like the waters of the world, should always be available and accessible to all who seek it and need it. And even if there are those who would control access to grace similar to access to water – water will always find a way and clear a path. Fr. Richard Rohr, a beloved Franciscan mystic wrote in one of his books and during his conversation with Oprah, said that love is like water – always seeks the lowest place. Remember what is grace? Grace if God’s LOVING kindness. Grace is inseparable with love, like water, always flows and seek the lowest places. Similarly, God’s grace will always find or create ways and paths to reach those in the lowliest. Hahanap at hahanap ng paraan at daan ang grasya ng Diyos, tulad ng tubig, para dumaloy at umagos pababa sa mga pinaka-aba at inaaping nasa laylayan at paanan ng lipunan at simbahan. The psalmist in our scripture reading declares: For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

In the Hebrew Testament and Jewish religious perspective, Sheol is the deepest part of the earth, the land of the dead. And here the psalmist says, that the love of God is steadfast and went down to Sheol to deliver the psalmist out of it. Ang pag-ibig ng Diyos ay humanap ng daan at paraan para hanguin mula sa kailaliman ng Sheol ang salmista.

God’ grace will always reach out to those in the deepest and lowest parts of humanity and creation – those who need God’s grace the most. No pastor, priest, bishop, or pope can prevent or stop God’s grace. The church did not stop God’s grace from abolishing slavery. The church did not stop God’s grace from uplifting women and women’s rights in both church and society. And in the last 60 or more years, the church did not stop God’s grace from reaching out and ministering to LGBTQIA+ people like water that came from the oceans becoming a storm whose name is Stonewall. The rain of stonewall fell upon those who have been denied God’s grace. Kaya wag tayong magpakagloomy and give in to what may seem to be the doom and gloom of our present times.

History shows us that God’s grace and people’s commitment to justice are long term historical projects beyond our lifetimes. God’s grace overtime erodes landscapes of injustice and oppression like tides that carve even stone made islands. It has. It does. It will.

From a personal perspective, ang Grasya ng Diyos ay palaging hahanap na daan at paraan para maabot ka sa iyong down and lowliest moments in life kahit na minsan yung mga down moments mo ay dahil rin naman sa mga kagagahan mo at mga maling desisyon sa buhay na paulit-ulit. God’s grace will seek you out from the lowliest moment of your life even if you caused it yourself. Merong tubig na hindi man maresolba ang lahat ng problema mo or agad-agad, pero tubig na magbibigay lakas at tapang sayo para magpatuloy muli. The same way how God’s grace never gave up on this church of Open Table MCC in all its lowliest and ugliest of times. How God’s grace, like rain water, nourished and refreshed this lowly church like dry land to give it new life. Our second lesson about grace is God’s grace like the oceans. It is and will always be available to everyone, and even if someone wants to wall it in, the ocean of God’s grace will always find a way to reach the lowliest.

God’s grace, like the oceans, must not be abused or disrespected.

Yes, God’s grace is the collective of all water on the earth – all the oceans, rivers, lakes, springs, waterfalls, and even ground water below and even the theorized oceans under the mantle of the earth. But we can even say that God’s grace is even bigger than all the waters of the earth. Sabi nga nung contemporary reading natin, God’s grace is a cosmos. Which simply means hindi natin kayang ubusin at arukin.

While the ocean is and should be available to all, it is to be respected and even revered. You cannot be arrogant against the ocean or against any major body of water. The ocean is dangerous to those who think they can tame and control it in the same that God’s grace is something that cannot be tamed. In ancient times, there were a lot of superstition about sailing the seas because sailors know how dangerous the seas and oceans can be. But let me qualify. Seas and Oceans, rivers and lakes, are not dangerous in and of themselves. Bodies of water are simply the way they are and natural forces dynamically move them. Oceans and seas are only dangerous for people when people do not learn about them – the forces, seasons, and changes that affect and influence the waters. Water becomes dangerous when we do not take the time to know it before sailing into it or before using it. Ang karagatan at tubig ay nagiging mapanganib lamang pag hindi natin ito kinikilala at inaalam ng maigi bago natin ito puntahan, languyan, o bago gamitin at inumin.

Danger is the attitude of humans who come approaching it with stupidity and arrogance. So is the grace of God. God’s grace is never dangerous. God’s grace is always available and in certain situations it is the one that reaches out to everyone and everywhere like rainwater.

Pero it is arrogant of us if we think we can approach the grace of God arrogantly and with abusive attitude. Mahalintulad ko ito sa beach. Sabi ng mga parents natin, o wag kayong lalayo masyado. Dito lang kayo sa mas malapit. Pag masyadong maalon, wag na muna magswimming. Higit sa lahat ang paalalang wag pupunta sa dagat pag nakainom lalo na sa gabi. Pero merong mga teenager or even older adults na minsan matitigas ang ulo. Lalo na yung mga nakainom. Nag-iinum nung gabi biglang nagkayayaang magswiming para magtanggal ng amats. Ending, may nalunod. Another example at marami nito sa Pilipinas nung 80s and 90s. Barkong maglalayag sa gabi, over capacity. Minsan, hindi lang over capacity. Over capacity na nga nagdecide pa ring bumyahe sa gabi kahit meron ng news na may paparating na bagyo. Kaya naman daw kasi malaki yung barko. Ending lumubog at maraming namatay.

Yes, God’s grace – God’s loving kindness is accessible and available to all like the oceans and seas. It is life giving and life nourishing. Like the oceans and seas of the earth, God’s grace sustains life on earth in so many different ways. The seas and oceans are responsible for the weather and temperature of the world. It also produces much of our oxygen. It also absorbs carbon from the atmosphere. Oceans and seas are major sources of food and energy. But it becomes dangerous and catastrophic not because it is evil or intends evil, but because we approach it with our human arrogance, stupidity, and greed.

We must know, not God’s limits, but OUR limits as humans. We must appreciate with reverence God’s grace, like the ocean and seas, how it has and continue to sustain our life. Wag natin abusuhin ang grasya at pag-ibig ng Diyos simply because it is always available and freely given tulad ng tubig na andyan lang sa ating paligid anytime we want it. Besides, while God’s grace is inexhaustible like the oceans – we only experience and receive grace from one another. We, humans, as imperfect and fragile pipes – alulugod – of God’s grace have limited ways of extending grace. We cannot continually abuse each other as channels of God’s grace.

We must clearly know hanggang saan lang tayo pwedeng lumangoy sa karagatan ng pag-ibig at grasya ng Diyos. And if we want to sail further out into the sea, we must study and learn like sailors and fisherfolks the proper ways of the sea and the knowledge of the winds, the seasons, and the tides. Like the sailors and fisherfolks who have reverence for the oceans and seas that gives life and purpose to them, we must respect and revere God’s grace for what it is – the source and sustainer of life, and a powerful force that is inherently good and beneficial, reaching out to the lowliest, but not something to be abused or disrespected.

3 lessons for God’s grace in the metaphor of water and oceans:

1. Grace is like an ocean – no one can own or control it.
2. Grace like water and the oceans and seas – should be freely available and accessible to everyone. God’s grace like water will find or create a way to reach the lowliest places and peoples.
3. God’s grace like the ocean and seas – cannot be abused.

We have heard it said – ashes to ashes and dust to dust. But I think, we can also think about it and say, from the oceans we came and to the oceans we will also return. After all are we not made of mostly water? Remember that you and me, we are all water that came from the Ocean we call God. Grow and mature in God’s grace and as God’s channel of grace because someday you and I will return to God’s Ocean of grace from whence we came.

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